Phoenix Fellows and Grantees

Dr. James Downar

2016 Phoenix Project FellowMDCM, MHSc (Bioethics), FRCPC

Co-sponsor Organization

University Health Network

An intervention for complicated grief among family members of patients who die in the ICU.

When people die, their close family and friends are at risk of developing complicated grief, a condition marked by serious impairment to their social, psychological and medical well-being. We currently have no system in place to screen and support family members at risk of complicated grief, but this has been identified as a priority. Building on previous research that we have conducted on bereavement, we will look to develop and even pilot a screening and support service for family members of patients who die in the ICU, and combine this intervention with other effective means of improving the end-of-life experience of critically ill patients and their family members.